Happy 34th birthday Nathan!

Happy 34th birthday to the most loving and wonderful husband, father, and friend. You add sweetness to my and the boys life everyday, and we are so thankful for you!

We had a good time celebrating the day. At work we had a birthday lunch and brownie cake, and this evening we had our traditional birthday meal, macaroni and cheese and hot dogs (bratwursts tonight). I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Tes has been having fun baking. Well, check out the cake she made for Nathan! It looked amazing and tasted great. We felt bad cutting it, but were glad we did. 

 And no birthday is complete without a special Middle Eastern roman candle. We thought 34 of them may burn the house down...

 The boys made Nathan some gifts, and helped him open his presents. Caleb was telling people that today was his daddy's birthday. It was so sweet :).

 And he even got to skype with the birthday bear to sing him happy birthday!

Happy 34th birthday, Nathan, we love you to the moon and back!

Out and About

The boys are all recovered now and feeling great. Ben went back to school on Thursday, right on time for his field trip to the Little Gym. He was pretty excited to ride a school bus for the first time.

 Here are a few pictures that the school took during the trip. His teachers said he had a great time!

 This weekend we went to our neighborhood park that we like walking to. The boys had fun playing and swinging.

 That evening I cooked a new recipe for Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta. I went to one of our bigger grocery stores last week, that I visit once every few months and stocked up on some spinach, since I can't get it at our local grocery store. The meal was delicious and everyone enjoyed it.  I'll be cooking this one again soon…next time I can get more spinach :).

 I love all the fresh fruits and vegetables that are imported (and cheap) from around the world. Right now, the mangos, avocados, and butternut squash are plentiful and delicious!

Tes loves to bake and she has been experimenting with different cakes. On Thursday she made a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for us. We ate almost the entire cake in one night!

 A long day makes a sleepy boy. We let him watch some cartoons before bed, and this is what happened.

Today we went down to the gulf and aquarium. We tried a new schwerma place for lunch and had a picnic by the water. We all enjoyed the good food and fresh juice.

 Next we went to the aquarium. The boys like to pet the turtle and hedge hog. We have been to the aquarium so many times this year, they know where all the animals are!

 Looking at the sharks and sting rays.

 Caleb was learning about different kinds of sharks.

 And we ended the day playing in the big sandbox at the science center.

Under the Weather

Both boys have been a little under the weather the last couple of days. Caleb got his first ear infection, which came with a fever and a yucky cough, and Benjamin had a fever. There is some crud going around pre-school, so it was just his turn. They have been in good spirits and have enjoyed staying in their PJs and watching movies or just being silly. Both boys are on the mend. Ben will be back to school tomorrow, and Caleb has probably one more good movie day ahead of him ;).

 Ben's new lego camera. He is getting creative with his blocks and likes to build trains, cars, castles, and cameras. Say cheese!

You Have a Friend In Me

The boys received some new costumes from Grandpa Mark and Grandma Betty. This was a perfect gift because they have completely outgrown these same costumes that they have been wearing in size 12-18 months. Yesterday they did a nice job taking turns wearing Woody.

Yesterday evening, we explored a new park by the beach. The temperatures are dropping in the evenings (below 90) and people are starting to come out much more to play. The park was packed and the boys had fun running around and playing on the playgrounds.

Nathan gave Caleb a timed obstacle course and he had fun doing it very fast.

We ended the evening with a snack break by the water.

One of our friends from work is in town and this evening we had him over for dinner. My mom-in-law recently gave me a great lemon cream pasta recipe from Sweet Tomatoes and an Italian crock pot chicken dish. I served it with salad, hummus and grape leave appetizers, and baklava for dessert (that only I ate). It was delicious, thank you for the recipe!

It was a good weekend and back to work and pre-school for all of us tomorrow.

Aquarium Fun

We have a new co-worker that just joined our team, so we wanted to show him around downtown and to one of our favorite places, the aquarium :). We started the morning getting coffee. Ben kept running away, and Caleb thought it was fun to keep catching him and brining him back. Every time Ben left, Caleb would put his hand over his face and say, 'not again!' It was hilarious.

 In the aquarium, the hedgehog and turtle was out. The boys like petting them, and today they got to feed the turtle breakfast.

 The penguins were active and all came out to say hello.

 Ben loves to stare at the fish.

 Lots of fish!

 I think this stingray looks like a cute old people smiling.

 On the other side of the aquarium is the science center. We didn't go in that day, but the boys had fun talking to each other through the pipes.

 It was a fun morning showing our new friend one of our favorite places in Kuwait.

Zoo, Park, and Spikey Hair

This past weekend (yes, I know the week is already half-way over), we ventured out to the zoo on a warm morning. We were one of maybe 3 other families there the entire morning. The boys had the place to themselves.

 Before we went home, the boys had some well-deserved juice and ice-cream.

Another day this weekend, we ventured to a falafel stand we heard was good, and found a new park. The kids at the park enjoyed playing with the boys, a lot.

This morning, Caleb woke up and told me he wanted spikey hair for school. Here's the final product, and two happy boys on the way to school this morning.